


Brother

by dimtraces



Series: Taking Flight [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 23:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12120072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimtraces/pseuds/dimtraces
Summary: His former apprentice may have sprouted wings and then betrayed him to the enemy, but Darth Sidious shall have his head soon. Savage is an easy target.





	Brother

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Sidious being a manipulative creep. Implied brainwashing and medical torture.

There is a man in Savage’s hut. His hood is a deep, dark red, like Mother Talzin’s. His face is pale, like Mother Talzin’s. Unlike Her, Sheev is short, short enough that Savage has to look down at him a little, and unlike Her, he smiles when he looks at the tiny cup that Feral used and the bigger plate beside it. His hands don’t crinkle with power. He doesn’t touch Savage, keeps his hands clasped before him, and he talks softly, quickly, worriedly.

He talks of Maul.

He says that Maul isn’t dead.

“I saw the boy a few weeks ago. He was being dragged into the big Jedi temple on Coruscant, a young nightbrother with red and black patterns and a crown of vestigial horns. A Padawan called Obi-Wan Kenobi brought him in.” When Sheev describes the horn pattern, something grows inside Savage’s chest. “He didn’t go willingly, that boy,” and Savage remembers how much of a struggle it was to get Maul to eat worm mulch. His tiny hand when he insisted on yet another cradle song. His teeth.

“It’s him. My brother,” Savage agrees. His breath shakes. “I thought he was…”

Sheev touches his arm comfortingly. “He disappeared when he was very young?”

Savage nods.

“That fits with the records I found. It was not your fault, Savage, anyone could have lost sight of him! He was so inquisitive, and you couldn’t watch your brother all the time. He was sold, poor boy, and who knows what happened to him. Someone grafted wings onto his back. Wings! It is an abomination what they did to him. I shudder to think of the experiments the Jedi—”

“They will _not_ touch him,” Savage growls.

“That’s why I came to Dathomir. I followed the paper trail. I have never seen a nightbrother off the planet. As soon as I noticed your brother, I knew that something was wrong. You must be very careful, Savage,” Sheev implores. “Nightbrothers aren’t treated like people out in the galaxy. They call you ‘beasts,’ ‘monsters,’ and worse. They say you are tainted by the dark side of the force! That you are Sith!” He sighs. “The Jedi do not suffer so-called darksiders to live. They say they protect peace and prosperity in the galaxy, and their Padawans may still believe it, but if you cross their Council—however inadvertently—they know no mercy. They act friendly, but, as they say… a pterm hornet is beautiful until she turns. They can twist minds with their force tricks. You can’t let them know that you have seen through the façade. You know what they did to your brother. What they did to me, when I dared call attention to the poor boy’s situation! They hounded me off the planet. Even now, they are looking for me. I cannot show my face on Coruscant again. I had to fake my death to even make it this far. You cannot tell anyone you met me.”

Savage nods. Then, the words filter in. The warning. “But _I_ _am_ a nightbrother—”

“There is no time,” Sheev interrupts. “The journey to Dathomir already took far too long. Your brother has been in the Jedi’s grasp for weeks! Grafting those wings on must have been painful, but sawing them off… There are nerves in those bones. When they use their mind tricks, he might even agree to let the Jedi hurt him. Besides…” He smiles at Savage, as if he knows something that Savage doesn’t. As if Savage’s objection is silly, like a first-time hunter doubting he can kill the rancor. The Elders wear this look often. It calms Savage. “Besides, I have loyal contacts still on Coruscant. We are not the only ones who care about young Maul. We shall hatch a plan on my ship. You want to save your little brother, don’t you?”

“I—yes. I’ll go with you,” Savage replies. Whoever the Jedi are, he won’t let them hurt his brother.

He misses Maul, has been missing him every day for more than a decade. His first tiny leather doll is still wedged under Savage’s bedding, too painful to look at or throw away. He’s never wanted to believe that his first child was dead. It’s always felt _wrong_. Something clammy has grown on the inside of his ribcage while Sheev’s been talking, and he identifies it now as shame. He never should have believed Brother Viscus about Maul’s death. He should have fought his way off-planet, and spared his little brother the pain he must have lived through. He should have gone before—

_Feral._

“Sheev,” he starts. “I…” The things inside his chest grow into boulders.

_He can’t leave his brother alone at the mercy of the Jedi; he can’t leave his brother alone at the mercy of the Sisters._

There’s nothing but earnest concern in the wrinkles of Sheev’s face. “What is it, Savage? I know you’ve never left your village before, but surely, your brother’s life…”

_Maul screaming in terror, while a honey-tongued Jedi convinces him it’s alright, but—_

“I can’t leave Feral.”

“What a good idea! Don’t worry about that, Savage.” Sheev smiles kindly. “Your little brother will come with us, of course! I know how worried you are about him. It’s only natural, after you lost the first one, that you want to watch over him at all times. He shall be safe with me.”

The boulders break. “ _Thank you_ , Sheev.”

Savage doesn’t know why, when he entered the hut, he thought that Sheev looked as full of contempt as Mother Talzin. He is nothing like Her. He cares about Maul. It must have been a trick of the deep red cowl.

**Author's Note:**

> So @sl-walker said to me, "So hey. shadowmaat and I have been chewing over stuff for Taking Flight, right? And we figure that Maul probably outed his Master pretty early on (like within his first week in the Temple), which woulda driven Sideous underground. Not shockingly, Sid woulda been hella pissed off, so we think he probably went to raze Dathomir, since Talzin’s the one who started all this shiz. But since he can’t get to Maul to knock him off, and Maul knows way better than to ever leave the Temple until Sideous isn’t after his head, he grabs and brainwashes Maul’s brothers and sends them as sleepers to do it." ~~and also flattered me a lot, i still dk how to deal~~
> 
> Things never go well for poor Savage, do they


End file.
